A Chance Encounter of the Courier Kind
by Artemis Fenir
Summary: Yea, crack title, so sue me :P Just Raul musing about his boss, nothing special.


Raul Tejada was a man of infinite wisdom – at least he liked to think so. He could easily read a person, size 'em up before they had a chance to dazzle him in false bravado, he could easily shoot a dozen Deathclaws through their eye (not that he was stealing the first guy's thunder, nor would he tell the boss his eye sight _wasn't_ actually going), and he still held onto his Old World values despite how much easier it would be to abandon them. However, even with his years of all types of people, gunslingers and goody-two-shoes and demons in human flesh and raiders and those that just didn't care, he had _never_ met someone like the boss.

He was watching her sleeping form, still wearing her combat armor, as he polished his guns (his professional pride seemed to demand it quite often, but he was starting to think his hands just needed to do something). Oh, how quiet it was when the boss slept…

He could still clearly remember the day when the boss broke him outta Black Mountain, being startled when the door swung open and this…tiny little person, wearing combat armor from head to toe and making it difficult to even tell what (s)he looked like, walked in with a flying toaster (he almost wanted to scream at the irony of a flying toaster coming to his recue). He thought this was some sorta joke, how could some boy (actually girl, but how the hell was he supposed to know?) defeat Tabitha with that silver fancy 9mm? Unless Karma had a sense of humor and the flying toaster did her in.

He didn't move, just let the would-be rescuer walk around, seemingly in awe. Whatever the kid saw, he wished he knew – maybe it was some secret passage outta the place that he missed, or maybe some bubblegum. Just a second after he decided his infinite(ly absent) patience was worn thin, the kid spoke to him and he was shocked – it was a girl, a girl with a heavy twang and a bubbly charm in her voice.

"Howdy! I'ma V. I take it you're Raul, from the radio broadcasts. Unless you're someone else, then I guess you wouldn't be Raul, would you?" She giggled and kept rambling, and Raul found himself baffled and interested in her. "Anyway, I was wondering if maybe you wanna get outta here? Unless you like it here, then you can stay, I guess. But, it's so gloomy in here – all plain and oil-smellin'. Did I say my name was V? At least I think it is, I can't remember – "

"Oh, _dios mio_, please stop. I was not prepared to have my ear talked off by a munchkin with a sugar addiction." He buried his rough face in his rough hands, wondering in the back of his mind why he didn't rub his ruined skin away like sand paper. Here he was, being sour to the girl who was about to rescue him. He hoped he didn't she didn't decide to leave him here…

" … talk a ghoul's ear off?" Damn, he didn't hear what she was saying while he was lamenting.

"Excuse me, boss?"

"I asked if you could really talk a ghoul's ear off. Wouldn't that be cool? I mean, obviously not for a ghoul, but I think it'd be pretty funny. Hey! I have wonderglue! Wanna try it and see if your ear comes off and I can glue it back on?"

He looked at her and blinked with what little eyelids he had. What…what was this girl running on (later on, he found out it was a combination of sleep deprivation and Nuka-Cola)? Who in the Mojave Wasteland was this girl?

"You…you said your name was V, _si_?"

"Yep, I did! I remembered saying it, now that I thought about it! My name's V, alright – or at least it starts with a V, I think. It's all I remember. That, and I was a courier, and I got shot in the head and – Hey! I gotta go after Benny! That sleazy freakin' snake! C'mon, we gotta go - !"

"Boss, _por favor_, you're talking too fast for this old man! Just, let's please slow it down and try to stay on the track I set you on, alright?" He could tell that if he _did_ travel with her (aw, who was he kidding? He'd travel the damn desert twice with her he was _that_ grateful), she'd be a handful…and he liked that. It reminded him of his Rafeala, his sweet little sister. She was a handful, so full of energy as a _chica_.

Raul could make out a small frown on the only visible part of her face. "Aw, shucks, I'm sorry! I tend to think faster than what I'ma speakin' and I get all tongue-tied and then I wander off. Okay! I'ma so mentally focused right now, it ain't even funny – oh, I guess I should take off my helmet for ya, right?"

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, no, boss, I don't need to know what you look like. I'll just travel with someone who I couldn't even pick from a line-up, that's a great idea. Hey, how about I imagine you're bug-eyed and have two noses?"

"I don't think I'd look very good like that, but at least you'd know exactly what I'd look like! No way of mistakin' me for someone else!"

She quickly yanked off her helmet, the action undoing the bun her auburn hair was in. Sky blue eyes twinkled in amusement at him while the dimples in her youthful and childish cheeks grew bigger. She looked to be about in her twenties if not early teens, and somehow the Mojave didn't even show on her face. It was like no tragedy or misfortune had painted itself across her glowing features. He envied her and pitied her in the same thought.

"Well, this okay, right? You know what I look like, and that's what you wanted, so…" Her voice grew meek as she spoke, almost shy, as she spilled the helmet back on. "Any more questions you wanna ask? I mean, I don't see why you can't ask while we're on the move, but that's okay. I can't chew gum and shoot a gun straight, if that makes you feel better!" Her cheeriness came back in full force as she smiled again.

"What…whatever you say, boss. Just, let's not try talking my ear off. My jaw is already falling off, and I'm quite partial to my ears." As he was getting up to gather his things, to up and leave with this strange and mysterious girl, he almost smiled as he heard her response.

"I still have wonderglue, so I wouldn't worry too much!" Yes, he almost smiled at that.

Later on, exactly 23 minutes and 42 seconds, she was questioning him on everything from before the war to what his favorite color was. He was amazed by how perceptive and intelligent the chatty girl was, but he wasn't going to admit that. And thankfully, it's impossible to talk a ghoul's ear off. Or else, it would have happened by now.

As he again gazed upon the young girl's sleeping form, he chuckled to himself and smiled. Yes, he had definitely never met someone like the boss before.


End file.
